Comms Point Recruitment Solutions

Management Consulting and FTSE 500 Recruitment Specialists

Consulting Interview Tips

By Craig Milbourne – Director and Co-Founder

Interview Preparation

Why Listen to me?

1. Voted the UK’s Top Management Consulting Recruiter 2007

2. Reviewed over 30,000 CV’s in the last 7 years

3. Placed and coached for interviews 1,000s of candidates over the last 7 years in to the Top Management Consulting firms in the World

4. Dozens of testimonials on my LinkedIn profile to demonstrate this success

5. Recruited successful campaigns in to the likes of: Accenture, E&Y, Capgemini.

Your Best 3 Achievements

Do’s:

Be able to define your:

-Role-Responsibility-How did you added value

-So what You did, How you did it and what it achieved

Provide:- specifics and examples- Tangible measureable deliverables- Numbers facts and figures-i.e. proof to make compelling succinct points

Best Achievements - DONTS:

Don’t Say things like

We did this….

We did that….

Unless your are demonstrating the points of:

1.Collaboration2.Team Work3.Contribution to Groups

Breadth and Depth:

-Be able to give 2 or 3 examples for each scenario based type question

- For example:- 3 examples of working under pressure- 3 examples of problem solving- 2 examples of exceeding expectation

Job Specs – Slice and Dice

-Go through the job spec line by line

- Be able to give 2 or 3 examples for each point OR your nearest alignment to the point in the job spec i.e. best fit

- You can’t be all tings to all men

Project Life Cycle

- Walk through a project life cycle from start to finish. Each step e.g. concept/ideation, problem identification/scoping, potential solutions, recommendations, implementation/execution, go live and support etc

-Again give examples of your role, responsibility, the results/deliverables you achieved

- Use correct terminology e.g. Programmes, Projects, Workstreams, Deliverables, ROI etc. This will resonate with the interviewer. Refer to consulting methodologies where you can.

What Went Well/What didn’t go well?

Be able to articulate:

- What went well- What didn’t go so well (if asked) BUT with a positive spin:

- How could you did it differently?- How could you make it better next time?- What did you learn from that experience?

-i.e. People learn by mistakes when they feel pain, they avoid doing it again or repeating the experience. Like slamming your hand in a car door or poking your finger in to a flame.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

This means what are your goals?

- Only 2% of the adult population write down goals- How can you hit a goal or target if you don’t have one?- If your career driven you should know what this is

-In Consulting this could be:

1.Lead an area2.Delivery Directorship of Projects/P&L3.Develop Capabilities and Take to market4.Client - Sales/Business Development5.Tier 1 Client Relationship Management6.Programme Growth - Marketing, Hiring, standards, mentoring, coaching, leadership team7.Content – Subject Matter Expert – The Go To Person

Competencies – 5 Key Personal Attributes

- Clear communicator – written and speaking, concise and succinct

- Confidence – comfortable client facing

- Group presentation and facilitation skills – engage, interact, lead, motivate the audience, story boarding etc.

-Time Management – deadlines, pressure, priortising, task orientated, planning e.g. how do you eat an elephant? One bit at a time

-Awareness – of ones own strengths and weakness e.g. delegating, try to do too much, empowering, avoid being a bull in a china shop, play to strengths, savvy, business acumen

Competencies – 6 Cultural Fit Ideas

This depends on the company but its essential:

- Understand the working environment. E.g. process orientated, self working, structure and hierarchy, decision making process, empowerment, career [progression, training, personal development, who are the leaders? What are their ethos/values? Brand/reputation?

- Energy – show passion and drive. Vision, ideas, Positive, glass is ½ full. Can do approach. Give examples of this.

- Likeable– people person? How people describe working with you?

- Creative – do you think out the box to solve problems? New ways of doing things? Examples of this.

-Influence – do you inspire people? How? A David Beckham by letting performance do the talking? Or more vocal/motivation with words etc. What is your style, your leadership qualities, are you credible, are you trusted? Examples.

-Personal Direction – know what you want? What is it? Goals? Achievement orientated?

Competencies – 7 Consulting Skills

You may or may not be from a Consulting background. Good transferable skills/traits are:

- Active Listener– takes time to understand issues and problems.

- Client – Actively seek clients views and issues, immerse yourself in the client environment

- Project Management – work within budgets, deadlines, prioritise tasks, adapting, on time and within specification, ROI

-Client Management – relationships, communication, manage expectation, deliver bad news, diplomatic, negotiate, influence and manage stakeholders

-Committed – commitment to the objectives and results for the client, exceed expectation, go the extra mile. Examples.

- Judgment – demonstrate clear thinking and judgment, balanced and well thought out, pragmatic

-Innovative – always look to make things better, don’t become lax or rest upon past glory's, if your standing still your moving backwards as others catch-up

6 Competencies – Commercial Awareness

-Business Mind – Understand basic business and the bigger picture. The political and emotional impacts of Change. Revenue, Profits, Costs, Share Price. What makes business’s succeed and fail? E.g. customers, brand, image, reputation. Customer experience and interaction. Channels.

- Complex Issues– Articulate and explain complex issues clearly to different levels and types of people. E.g. Technical vs Non Technical. Senior vs Junior.

- Industry Innovation – Know who the industry market leaders are? Who is best in class? Who is setting the standard? Who’s got it right? What are the latest Innovations or Opportunities? E.g. Digital/Social Media

- Selling– Revenue is King for any business. All business’s need this. Can you drive revenue or sell?

-- Opportunistic – Are you a shepherd or a sheep? Do you follow the herd? Can you spot an opportunity? How do you test it? Do you innovate? Break new ground? Game Change? Do you take risks? Examples?

-Innovative – always look to make things better, don’t become lax or rest upon past glory's, if standing still your moving backwards as others catch-up

Scenario Testing

A few test scenarios could be:

1.How would you conduct a Sales Meeting? E.g. Open/introduce, build rapport, uncover needs/problems, state solutions, state benefits, Objection handling, Closure.

2.Dealing with Problem Client – describe an example of where you handled a difficult client or problem. What did you learn from it? How would you do it differently. How do you handle it if someone doesn’t like working with you.

3.Explaining a Complex Issue or Technical – Describe where you have explained a complex issue or technical issue clearly.

4.Project Walk through – Describe a project or walk through a typical piece of work. Articulate the different stages and what was the goal, benefits and result of the project.

Social Media Research Tasks

Prepare by

1.LinkedIn – Look at past and current employees of the company and where they have come from and what they do. Projects, skill areas etc. Research your interviewers name and leadership team of the Practice on LinkedIn.

2.You Tube – Search your potential employers name on You Tube. Look for their You Tube Channel. Subscribe for free and receive all their latest updates as and when prior to interview. Watch the current videos – no other candidate will be.

3.Twitter– Follow the company Twitter account(s). See who is tweeting what and have an opinion on it.

4.Facebook– check to see if the company has a facebook page. See what current and what they have on there. Great source of information and articles.

5.Slideshare.– Check slideshare for company presentations and information. Can be great information source.

6.Google – Google the company to see what's topical

Good Luck! – Has this been helpful?

If so Please do the following:

1.Share with Friends and Colleagues on your Social Media if you think they can benefit

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3.If you want more information or other Answers please leave comments below

4.If your interviewing within Management Consulting then send your CV to cv@commspoint.com as we may have roles for you

5.If you’re a Consulting Company or your Hiring staff and want the best consultants in the market, then please contact us to hear more about our services: info@commspoint.com

Connect with Craig Milbourne through Social Media:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/craigmilbourne

Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/craigmilbourne

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/ConsultingFastTrack

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/craigmilbourne You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/CommsPointRecruit